Dr. Thomas Städler

Dr.  Thomas Städler

Dr. Thomas Städler

Lecturer at the Department of Environmental Systems Science

ETH Zürich

Institut für Integrative Biologie

CHN G 29

Universitätstrasse 16

8092 Zürich

Switzerland

Additional information

Research area


I am a population geneticist with broad interests in evolutionary biology, mechanisms of speciation, and genomics. More specifically, my long-term research uses large-scale sequencing studies to address questions in molecular evolution, demographic history and the impact of mating-system differences, using wild tomatoes as a model system (Solanum section Lycopersicon). Moreover, in collaboration with a network of tomato genome biologists, I have contributed to analyses of the domestication history of the cultivated tomato, a commercially important crop.

A second, more recently started line of research concerns postzygotic reproductive isolation in the tomato clade, taking advantage of variable proportions of hybrid seed failure among different pairs of taxa. Specifically, I am interested in (possibly perturbed) genomic imprinting and other epigenetic phenomena and evaluate their potential roles in contributing to hybrid seed failure. To these ends, we employ controlled crosses in the greenhouse, laser-assisted microdissection of different seed components, and high-throughput transcriptome sequencing.

 


Professional Experience

2013–present    Senior Scientist, Plant Ecological Genetics Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

2008–2012    Senior Assistant, Plant Ecological Genetics Group, Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

2001–2007    Research Associate, Evolutionary Biology Group (Prof. Wolfgang Stephan), Department Biology II, LMU Munich, Germany

1998–2000    Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

1997–1998    Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Zoology, University of Frankfurt, Germany

 

Education

1988–1997    PhD studies on the population genetics of freshwater snails, Department of Zoology, University of Frankfurt, Germany (several research stays abroad)

1983–1984    Exchange Student at Trenton State College, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

1980–1987    Diplom Studies in Biology (Major Zoology, Minors Botany and Biophysics), University of Frankfurt, Germany

 

Additional information

 

* 2015-2020, Associate Editor for the international journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B
* 2011-2022, Member of the Steering Committee, Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center (PSC)

Course Catalogue

Autumn Semester 2024

Number Unit
701-1413-00L Population and Quantitative Genetics
701-2413-00L Evolutionary Genetics

 

Publications